Tories won't say if immigration target to stay

[dutchman]

The home secretary has refused to say whether the Conservative manifesto will repeat their 2015 pledge to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands"



Amber Rudd told the BBC the manifesto was "not going to be identical to the last one" and said things had changed since 2015 because of Brexit.

The target, set by David Cameron in 2010, has never been met and recent figures put net migration at 273,000.

The PM indicated in April that she would stick with the aim.

Questions had been raised about whether the commitment would feature in the Conservative manifesto after Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said that immigration was "not about putting numbers on it" but about ensuring Britain had the skilled workers it needed.

Asked whether she agreed with her colleague, Ms Rudd told BBC Radio 5live's Pienaar's Politics: "It's too early to say. I appreciate you want to push me on this but we are going to have to wait until the manifesto comes out."

Pressed on the issue again, she added: "That's why we're having a new manifesto. It's not going to be identical to the last one.

"We're setting it out for hopefully for a five year term, we've got a lot to think through to work out what's the best way to deliver on our priorities."

She added: "My personal view is, we need to continue to bring immigration down. I want to make sure that we do it in a way that supports businesses, you know we're ending freedom of movement when we leaving the European Union.

"So the situation from that time the [2015] manifesto... has changed because we're leaving the European Union, so it's right that we look at it again."

She's the Home Secretary and "doesn't know" if there'll be a cap on immigration? Lying cow!

[rebbonk]

Since immigration was one of the recurring themes over brexit, I hope that they've got their house in order.

[dutchman]

Theresa May sticks with under 100,000 immigration pledge

The Prime Minister has confirmed she will be sticking to her target to reduce net migration to under 100,000 - despite not hitting it for seven years.

Speaking while out campaigning on Monday morning, Theresa May said net migration must be kept at a "sustainable level" and she believed that was the "tens of thousands".

David Cameron first set the target when he was Prime Minister in 2010, however, he and and Mrs May, who was then home secretary, repeatedly failed to deliver on the promise.

Under Mr Cameron's premiership, the level of net migration rose to a record 330,000 - a target he and Mrs May steadfastly refused to abandon.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "It's political manoeuvring that means very little. Theresa May should know better. She has set, and then failed to meet, countless immigration targets in her time as home secretary."

And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Theresa May made that promise in 2010 and made the same promise in 2015, and didn't get anywhere near it on any occasion at all."

David Cameron's 2010 pledge to cut immigration was repeated in the run-up to the general election five years later.

It was a millstone around Theresa May's neck as home secretary, a target imposed on her that she couldn't hit.

Now Prime Minister, Mrs May passed that millstone on to her successor Amber Rudd on Monday, confirming the pledge would remain.

It is a millstone she could have dropped, she's chosen not to. That decision may serve her well on 8 June but imagine the disappointment her supporters will feel when Brexit doesn't deliver the radical cuts to migration they expected to see.

[dutchman]

Conservative manifesto: No timetable for migration pledge



The Conservatives would "aim" to meet their manifesto pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands, a cabinet minister has said.

Sir Michael Fallon said the policy was not yet costed as the government did not know when it would be achieved.

The pledge to reduce migration to below 100,000 - which was in the 2010 and 2015 Tory manifestos - has never been met. The most recent figure was 273,000 and the last year that it was below 100,000 was 1997.

The manifesto for the 8 June election says: "Theresa May's Conservatives will deliver...controlled, sustainable migration, with net migration down to the tens of thousands".

Sir Michael, the defence secretary, was asked on the BBC's Newsnight to confirm that meeting the pledge was now the party's policy.

"It's our ambition to get it down," he said, adding: "It's our aim to continue to bear down on immigration."

Sir Michael said it would become easier to reduce migration as the UK leaves the EU and pointed to another manifesto pledge, to increase the levy on firms hiring foreign workers.

He said there would be a cost to the economy, but this had not yet been calculated "because we do not know specifically what year we are going to reach that point" of hitting the target.

Empty rhetoric in other words.